But Borland also offered a fascinating, if disturbing, anecdote from the NFL's rookie orientation. According to Borland, the NFL had two "prominent retired players" come in to offer pieces of advice. One such piece of advice was that rookies should hire "fall guys" for the explicit purpose of shouldering any sort of legal trouble the rookies might find themselves in — including possibly going to jail. The players also said "we'll bail him out," although Borland did not indicate who he thought "we" is, whether that would be the NFL or other players.

From ESPN:

Shortly after he was drafted by the 49ers in the third round last year, Borland attended the annual rookie orientation put on by the NFL. The league tries to prepare young players for what to expect on and off the field, and it brought in two prominent retired players to give the rookies advice.

"Get yourself a fall guy," Borland says one of the former players advised. The former player, whom Borland declined to name, told the rookies that if they ran into legal trouble, their designated fall guy would be there to take the blame and, if necessary, go to jail. "We'll bail him out," Borland says the former player assured them.

Borland was appalled. "I was just sitting there thinking, 'Should I walk out? What am I supposed to do?'" he recalls. He says he didn't leave the room because he didn't want to cause a scene, but the incident stayed with him.